Hair treating composition



Patented Feb. 9, 1943 George Friedman, Brightwaters, Goldfarb, New York, N. Y.,

and Abraham E assignors to Lawrence Richard Bruce, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York No Drawing. Application March 26, 1940,

' Serial No. 326,082

3 Claims. (Cl. 167-811) This invention relates to compositions for the treatment of hair in order to impart to it in the so-called "permanent-waving process, a wavelike appearance and curliness closely simulating the appearance of naturally curly or wavy hair, while at the same time this composition, being so constituted chemically and physically as to provide for the imparting of the wave or curl to the hair in the aforesaid process without excessive drying of the hair or alteration of. the characteristics of flexibility, hardness and strength normally present in the natural structure of hair.

Up to the present time in the industry, numerous compositions, both liquid and paste, have been disclosed for use, but generally, such compositions have the following deficiencies: someleave the hair in too soft 23. state so asto require an after hardening treatment; others leave undesirable residues in the hair which are on the one hand either greasy or moist, or on the other, in the nature of dry. deposits which scale ofi. Still other viscous liquid or paste compositions, upon aging between the time of manufacture and use, break down into their initial components, with consequent loss of homogeneity, viscosity and moisture, as the case maybe, resulting respectively in the development of mediums too fluid to be applied as pasteand to be maintained in the normal dispensing containers, or in a medium so changed in nature through irreversible hardening as to prevent the application of the same to the hair.

It is therefore an object-of this invention to -provide a hair treating medium of viscous or paste conformation which will, by virtue of its constituents retain its initial characteristics of homogeneity, flow characteristics, within the normal usual range of climatic temperatures, and which will provide in its application in "permanent-waving processes, in conjunction with carrying the necessary chemical ingredients to carry out the physical waving action with respect to the hair, for a porous protective coat around the individual hairs, protective in the sense that there will be provided a heat insulator, and porous in the sense that steam and waving chemicals will be permitted to penetrate therethrough and into the hair itself.

Other and further advantages will appear in the course of this disclosure. 7 It is well known that sulphites generally, and alkali sulphites particularly, act as hair-curling substances. However, the alkalinity and chemical composition of solutions of this sort under the temperature conditions necessary for their application, and unqualified use results in partial destruction of the hair, brittleness and discoloration. Means have been sought to regulate the action of alkali sulphite solutions. by the addition ofoily orfatty components; but as these additional substances are incompatible with the sulphite solutions, non-homogeneous, un-

stable emulsions resultr Moreover, the oily or fatty materials do not prevent to any great extent the destruction and drying of the hair structure, but only disguise its effects temporarily, and leave an undesirable residue in the hair.

The chemistry of the hair with reference-to the substances which may be applied to it fgr causing it to adopt desired conformations is very complex. Hair destruction is accompanied by partial hydrolysis of its keratin through reductive splitting of the cystine component.

We have found compositions which answer I satisfactorily the requirements of a hair waving medium, namely:

1. That it should be and remain homogeneous over extended temperature ranges, without being broken down by freezing or becoming excessively fluid at summer or tropical temperatures.

2. That its application should result in causing hair to assume the desired conformation with a minimum of change in the hair structure and with minimum hydrolysis of the hair substance.

3. That is should impart to the hair a firmly bound transparent coating of high index of refraction, thus enhancing its gloss and strength, while leaving it'flexible.

4. That it should not dry the hair, but leave it with its natural oil content.

5. That it should not discolor naturally pigmented hair, or remove the color from hair-artificially colored.

In general, our compositions incorporate, in

conjunction with the alkali sulphite serving asthe active waving principal, an adsorbent medium, a dispersing agent, and a supporting colloid.

By adsorbent media are meant substances such as: lauryl alcohols, and its higher homologs,in-'= cluding for example, cetyl alcohol, stearyl alcohol, palmityl alcohol, and other aliphatic alcohols with more than tweve carbon atoms, free-flowing proteins, as for.v

gums, gelatin. and the like, which serve as stabilizers of the aqueous emulsion incorporating the fatty alcohol-fatty ester and the inorganic or organic sulphlte waving principal.

In forming the compounds of the character aforesaid, the reaction is as follows: the adsorbent media are soluble in and therefore miscible with the dispersing agents with which likewise the sulphlte waving principle is miscible, forming an aqueous colloidal suspension in the water to which the above ingredients are added: upon addition of the supporting or protective colloid there results a homogeneous substantially single phase colloidal emulsion stable over normal climatic ranges.

A preferred composition is one which contains the materials and proportions herewith stated:

Per cent Wheat starch Cetyl alcohol 8 lanolin 6 Sodium sulphlte v 6 Water 70 All the parts are given by weight.

The procedure is to heat the water to about 70 C., and then add thereto the mixture of cetyl alcohol and lanolin, with continuous stirring until the mixture is homogeneous.

Now the wheat starch is added in powdered form, very slowly, while stirring is continued, and the temperature is raised to 90 C. At this point the heating is suspended, and now the sulphlte is added, continuing to stir. Stirring is continued until the temperature has fallen to less than 40 C. The result is a viscous fluid in paste form, homogeneous throughout, and stable, in the form of a single phase suspension over an extended range.

The viscous fluid so made, physically and chemically definable as a paste, is applied to the hair in the manner and under the conditions well-known in the art of hair-waving and curling.

In our compositions we have found that although various supporting colloids as specified are applicable for stabilizing the fatty alcoholfatty ester-water emulsion carrying the active waving principle, starch, particularly wheat starch, is the most satisfactory medium for the formation of a homogeneous and stable emulsion of varying degrees of viscosity ranging from that 1 of free-flowing to thick paste conformation.

The other materials have specific but limited advantages. For example, gelatin liquid emulsions are stable only within a limited temperature range, and only within certain pH ranges, are very .sensitive to the presence of materials which may destroy their ability to act as a protective colloid, such as electrolytes, and are subject to the attack of bacterial organisms.

The natural gums likewise are incompatible with salts, hydrolyze to produce undesirable acids, as in the case of gum arabic, and furthermore, produce sols of limited viscosity range, andare not generally the best for the purpose.

Starch, however, has many particular advantages. It may be obtained at low cost in a highly purified state, forms exceedingly long-lasting and stable colloid solutions, and is itself. known to be one of the best protective colloids adaptable to such uses by reason of the structure of the colloid cells which it forms in water suspension. Starch further forms a mechanically very strong micelle structure, which is stable over a wide pH range and over a great variation of temperature, not

separating out even when its colloid solutions are frozen or heated to boiling, nor become either undesirably fluid or gelatinized in the presence of salts and acids.

The particular advantages of the preferred formula may now be easily seen. Under the influence of temperatures of C., that is, at the range necessary and customary in conforming hair, steam is generated, volatilizing some of the fatty alcohol on to the hair. This adsorbent film on the hair attracts and holds to itself some of the fatty ester, the lanolin. At the same time the starch which has till now served as a sup porting medium in the applied composition, reacts with the generated steam to form a dextrin, which forms a porous b'ut firm combination with the fatty ester and fatty alcohol on the hair, coating it protectively so as to retain in it its natural oils and moisture, the steam and alkali sulphlte in the meantime penetrating through the porous coating aforesaid and carrying out its well-known action of producing the conforming effect on the tresses.

The flnal result is to produce on each individual hair, a firm, hard and transparent protective layer which at the hair-waving temperatures is plastic, but on cooling imparts mechanical strength to the conformed hair without reducin its flexibility.

In the subsequent operations of washing and drying the hair, all the remaining unconverted and unchanged emulsion is washed away, leaving behind a microscopically thin film, transparent, firm and homogeneous, as a coating on each hair, strengthening the hair conformation and while remaining pliable, and acting as a retentive coating to retain within the hair its natural moisture and oils.

It is obvious that other formulae and compositions which are designed to produce a similar effect and to act in a similar way may be used without departing from the scope of this invention. For example Percent (2) Wheat starch 5 Cetyl alcohol 9 Anh. lanolin 2 Sod. sulphite 1 Water Balance (3) Gelatin 30 Stearyl alcohol l0 Sulphated alcohol l Sod. sulphlte 5 Water Balance (4) Wheat starch l0 Cetyl alcohol 4 Olive oil 6 Sodium sulphlte 6 Water Balance It is to be understood that other sulphites may be used in place of sodium sulphlte, as for example, ammonium sulphite, amine sulphites, mixtures of sodium sulphites and ammonium or amine acetates.

It is further obvious that by omitting the sulphite content, a composition results which may be applied to naturally curly or wavy hair, to enhance its gloss and strengthen its natural conformation by reason of the formation of a protective transparent and flexible hard him on the hair.

Finally, the proportions of the components of the compositions set forth above may be widely varied in order to achieve permanent and stable emulsions oi'any desired degree of viscosity from free-flowing liquid to heavy paste without departing from the scope of this invention.

We claim:

1. A preparation for the permanent waving of hair, stable over normal climatic ranges, and providing on application of heat, the formation of a protective and porous coating on the hair permitting the penetration of steam and the vapor of a hair waving principal, while maintaining in the hair the natural oil and moisture thereof, comprising a homogeneous emulsion ranging in viscosity from ireeeflowing to paste conformation and containing a fatty alcohol adsorbent medium having more than twelve carbon atoms, a fatty ester dispersing agent, a sulphlte waving principal, and a hydrolizable supporting colloid therefor.

2. A preparation for the permanent waving of hair, stable over normal climatic ranges, and providing on application of heat, the formation of a protective and porous coating on the hair permitting the penetration of steam and the vapor of a hair waving principal, while maintaining in the hair the natural oil and moisture thereof, comprising a homogeneous emulsion ranging in viscosity from free-flowing to paste conformation and containing cetyl alcohol, lanolin, an alkaline sulphite, and a hydrolizable supporting colloid.

3. A preparation for the permanent waving of hair, stable over normal climatic ranges, and providing on application of heat, the formation of a protective and porous coating on the hair permitting the penetration of steam and the vapor of a hair waving principal, while maintaining in the hair the natural oil and moisture thereof, comprising a homogeneous emulsion ranging in viscosity from free-flowing to paste conformation and containing cetyl alcohol, lanolin, an alkaline sulphite and starch in colloidal solution.

GEORGE FRIEDMAN. ABRAHAM R. GOLDFARB. 

